‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6, Episode 5: Hold the Door

Season 6, Episode 5, ‘The Door’

Hodor.

I guess “Mr. Hold T. Door” is more accurate, we now know. But he’ll always be Hodor to us. What’s that? Oh nothing, just some snow in my eye …

As with many epic sagas, the story and action in “Game of Thrones” are driven largely by characters moving toward and eventually becoming the people they are supposed to be. While we tend to focus on the big-ticket destinies, whether it’s Daenerys Targaryen emerging triumphantly from the flames last week or Jon Snow rising from the dead to fight again, the smaller figures have their own slots to fill.

And so it went on Sunday, although “smaller figure” is perhaps not the best descriptor for the behemoth formerly known as the stable boy Wyllis. I’m not sure it makes sense to say that Hodor realized his destiny on Sunday, because he’s been relaying said destiny repeatedly from the moment we met him. But I like to think, as the undead splintered the door and clawed at his face, that the big fella had a supremely satisfying moment of existential clarity: “Oh so that’s what I’ve been saying this whole time!”

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From left, Sophie Turner and Aidan Gillen in “Game of Thrones.”Credit...Helen Sloan/HBO

The White Walker attack provided a tense and terrifying end to an episode largely devoted to setting up future events. But the past, too, was on the minds of many of the characters, whether it was Sansa finally confronting Littlefinger over abandoning her to Ramsay; Arya enduring a skewed theatrical version of her father’s execution; Jorah finally proclaiming his longstanding love for Dany; or even Varys treating Kinvara with the scorn he reserves for magical posers, thanks to his mutilation by a sorcerer, until the priestess chilled him by recounting the details of his abuse. (Do we think that guy’s still in that box in King’s Landing?)

The most crucial bit of back story, of course, was the revelation that the odd little Children of the Forest were the ones who invented White Walkers in the first place, as weapons against humanity. We saw what that got them on Sunday, as their former creations returned to rampage through the magical tree cave, butchering forest-children and yet another direwolf. (R.I.P. Summer, killed by winter.)

The Night’s King was the Darth Vader to the Three-Eyed Raven’s Obi Wan Kenobi, striking him down and accelerating Bran’s Jedi time-traveling warg training. (There were also shades of “The Matrix,” the hordes breaching the barricades as our hero refuses to snap out of his alternate reality.) Ready or not, the Raven told Bran, you’re me now.

And he’s definitely not ready. As Bran flees into the frozen wasteland, he must deal with the fact that not only did his most loyal companion just die (presumably) to save him, but that Bran, in a convoluted sense, doomed Hodor to his simpleton life by recklessly vision-questing on his own and drawing the White Walkers to the magical cave.

Of course, that means that the way everything transpired was the way it was always supposed to go down. Or something. Things get tricky once you start time-traveling. (Fun fact: The episode was directed by Jack Bender, who did plenty of time-skipping storytelling as one of the primary directors of “Lost.”) I’m curious and also slightly afraid to see how much an already convoluted show will further complicate itself with this new element.

But in this case, the Möbius strip approach worked, imbuing an already suspenseful and sad moment with deep poignancy and meaning. The genuinely surprising revelation that Hodor’s entire life had been sacrificed to later save Bran’s — which will presumably have grander world-saving ramifications — made for one of the most moving deaths on the show to date, and recast an endearing fool in a heroic light.

One last thing about the White Walker invasion that could amount to nothing, but I’m going to mention it anyway: Did you notice how Meera, Bran’s protector, dispatched that swordsman in a similar fashion to how Jon Snow dispatched that swordsman’s twin last season at Hardhome? Perhaps her spear was tipped in dragonglass, which, like the Valyrian steel Jon’s sword is made of, is deadly to White Walkers.

But it’s worth recalling that Meera is not just some random hanger-on — she’s the daughter of Howland Reed, the guy who saved Ned Stark by stabbing Arthur Dayne at the Tower of Joy. The show saw fit to depict her father a few weeks ago, so maybe we’ll learn more about her as the season goes on. The similarity was uncanny, at any rate.

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Isaac Hempstead Wright,left, and Vladimir Furdik.Credit...HBO

From the pillaged tree, we’ll head south to Castle Black, where Sansa, Jon, Davos and Brienne made plans to retake Winterfell with a loose coalition of northern houses and whatever stragglers they can pick up along the way.

Tormund is still smitten, but sadly for both him and for “Thrones” ’shippers everywhere, it sounds like Brienne will be heading to Riverrun to talk to Uncle Blackfish about lending his restored Tully forces. (Brynden “Blackfish” Tully, you may or may not recall, was Catelyn Stark’s uncle who attended the Red Wedding but left before things got ugly. He also advised Robb Stark not to behead Lord Karstark back in Season 3, which was ignored and is the reason the Karstarks now back Ramsay.)

Sansa could have even more troops supporting her if she’d accept Littlefinger’s help, which she won’t, and who can blame her? She talked to her former mentor for the first time since he left Winterfell last season, and it went about as well as you’d think. You were either a monster or an idiot for leaving me with Ramsay, she said. Littlefinger pleaded idiot, and he seemed sincere, but Sansa wasn’t in the forgiving mood.

“What do you think he did to me?” she asked him, repeatedly, forcing Littlefinger to acknowledge his culpability in what resulted from his thoughtless ambition. We all know what happened because it was only the most controversial thing on the show last year. But whether in response to the criticism over Sansa’s rape or because this is how this subplot was always designed, the show is finally handling the fallout of sexual violence with some nuance. Sansa is scarred by her experiences but not defined by them — she has evolved from a person seeking men to protect her to one who relies upon herself (and the occasional giant warrior maiden).

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Ania BuksteinCredit...Helen Sloan/HBO

None of which means she’s willing to forgive or forget. She rebuked Littlefinger, thwarting at least temporarily whatever scheme he had for capitalizing on the war in the North. (The man always has a plan.) For Ramsay, we can only hope for much, much worse.

Over in Braavos, the other Stark daughter has her eyes back but is still getting smacked around on a regular basis by the Waif, who has some serious class issues. Her grudge isn’t enough to keep Arya from getting a rare second chance from the Faceless Men, however, and wouldn’t you know it? A girl’s first gig as an official no one involves watching a third-rate theater troupe mocking the very thing she’s not supposed to care about anymore. What’s worse, they’ve mangled the story to the point that Ned is the clown and Joffrey seemed halfway sympathetic.

Silver lining: She gets to kill the woman playing Cersei, a member of Arya’s kill list. So that sort of counts, right? That said, it doesn’t seem like she’s planning to go through with it.

Speaking of reframing the narrative, Tyrion continues to embrace his role as Dany’s chief fixer and spin doctor. It’s not enough that things have calmed down in Meereen, he tells Varys; the citizens have to know it was the mother of dragons, breaker of chains, “and all that” who brought it about.

Enter Kinvara, a green-eyed red priestess who favors the same chokers as Melisandre and thus might also be over 800 years old. She promised to use a crew of silver-tongued clerics to retail the message, and sang the same “the one we’ve been waiting for” song about Dany that Melisandre has been dedicating lately to Jon Snow. That suggests either A.) some interesting parallels between the two, or B.) that’s pretty much the standard red priestess line.

Didn’t you guys say that about Stannis, too? Varys asked.

Kinvara: Eh, you win some, you lose some.

A Few Thoughts While We Endure a Rough Election

• As expected, Euron Greyjoy showed up to collect the Iron Islands crown on Sunday. Less expected was his radical transparency: Sure, I murdered my brother, he said on the stump, who didn’t want to kill him? I only regret not doing it sooner. Then he made some emasculating jokes at Theon’s expense. Theon and Yara, realizing that conventional political strategy is useless against a bully candidate without shame, rounded up some ships and made for the horizon.

• Apparently, Euron plans to offer his fleet in service to Dany, if Theon and Yara don’t get there first. But all that can wait, for on Sunday, the Unburnt finally gave poor Jorah a taste of the sweet, sweet Khaleesi kindness he’s been craving for as long as I can remember. He only had to get greyscale, battle his way through the fighting pits and nearly have his head caved in by a Dothraki to get it. But still, worth it!

• You’ll recall that Stannis actually found a way to stop Shireen’s greyscale before it reached Stone Men status. Too bad that family is too dead to share any of its home remedies.

• Is it me? Or do the writers seem to be winking at the universe beyond the Known World more frequently this season? Jon Snow’s resurrection a few weeks ago included a haircut, which was an oddly heated subplot during the off-season, and we’ve had several in-jokes about his brooding nature. (Brienne had another one on Sunday.) Then on Sunday, we saw what could easily be construed as a response to the calls (many in jest, it should be noted) for more male nudity on the show. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.